Google Glass 2.0 becoming doctors’ tool

New York: Google has changed its approach to marketing its Glass programme. It sees the future of the Glass in the enterprise sector, rather than selling directly to consumers.

Now Glass version 2, due out this year, will be distributed exclusively through Google’s Glass at Work partners, mobihealthnews reported.

Interestingly, five out of 10 of those partners are healthcare or healthcare-adjacent companies: Augmedix, Pristine, Advanced Medical Applications, CrowdOptic, and Wearable Intelligence.

According to reports, select partners have already had access to the second-generation device, which has a 5 GHz WiFi band to support smoother streaming video, and could be key to a number of healthcare applications.

It also includes improved battery life, thanks to an Intel chip that will extend the life of the device and an optional external battery.

“Google realised they put out Glass early. They feel like they have learned what they needed to incorporate into their next generation in terms of their hardware and software,” Lucas Schlager of Pristine was reported as saying in January this year.

“They want to focus on that, so it is ‘Let’s really work more closely with the enterprise guys because they are the ones that are making moves, and we will move back into the consumer products when we think the market’s ready’,” he said.